"...Hey Arisu, you okay?" Takumi asked his classmate in between classes.
The dark-haired female looked up, yawning after napping on her desk. She blinked a few times before noticing the other teenager nearby. Feeling something on her head, she flung off the scrap piece of paper. Guess somebody threw it at her earlier.
"Oh! Hey Takumi. Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night. Got a bit stressed out for the test today." She half-lied to him, looking around the classroom before noticing another student sleeping. "Hey, is that…?"
"Him? That's Yusaku Fujiki. He's the lone-wolf lazy student in the class. Surprised you even see him attending classes sometimes. Anyway, I brought my Deck to show you today! I wanted to show you and see if you had any ideas for it."
"Me!?" Arisu was a bit flustered.
In the background, Yusaku slowly opened his eyes, seeing both Takumi and Arisu chattering in class. His eyes narrowed at Arisu, focusing on her body language and the conversation at hand.
"Why would you ask me? I don't play on Link VRAINS." She scratched her chin a bit.
"But you still know the game right? I got a really cool monster that I want you to check out. I think it can work in my Deck, but I want your opinion." The other student smiled at Arisu.
[Wow, I can't believe Arisu is actually chatting with that guy.] AI said.
"Shut up," Yusaku said before listening in on the conversation, now that both students were sitting down.
"...Oh, What do you think about Playmaker? I know you're a bit touchy on him, but I really do think he's a folk hero. Like Robinhood!" Yusaku observed the unnerved facial expression on her eyes.
"Playmaker… well, he's a bit of a-!" She cut herself as the teacher came back in.
The instructor returned the class to order. Yusaku had a hunch about Arisu. Something she might have been aware of, but there was only one way to find out. Hopefully, soon enough. That is if Ghost Girl said was right.
[Wait a second! You know Rosebud?!] AI exclaimed after their Duel.
"Why yes. She is a strange girl indeed. But you know, SOL has taken quite an interest in her. Nearly as much as you. Perhaps if you can get closer to her, maybe then… you'll understand why. After all, history tends to repeat itself."
He would have to wait and see.
"So, what do you think of this one?" Takumi showed Arisu a Link Monster. "I wanted to expand my Deck using Links and I found this one."
Arisu took a look at the Link Monster. It was a Link 4 monster; must have been a new one released. She didn't recognize the name Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess.
It was later in the day. Classes were wrapping up and they were walking to the school gates. It was kind of a routine? Arisu wasn't entirely sure what to consider Takumi.
"I mainly wanted to add this card so I could get around effects that could hinder my Deck. So, what do you think?"
"Uh, well…. I think it could work on regular Master formats well. Not sure how strong it would be on the Speed Duel format." Arisu honestly wasn't sure, even for what it was good for his Deck.
"Nice! I was hoping you'd said that. I'm still working on getting at least a Link 1 or Link 2 monster in my Extra Deck. Especially since I only have one real Link Monster of my Deck. Especially after what Pastrybee did!"
"Pastrybee? What did she do?" Arisu tilted her head.
She was aware Pastrybee had a small following. She Dueled for fun and streamed it sometimes. This was the first time hearing of it, though.
"You did not see!? She used a combo to power-up her Madolche Fresh Sistart to get over a monster's 3000 ATK monster! You better check the video out once you get home. Trust me. I was very surprised." Takumi stopped at the gates, noticing a black car with the lights on. "Huh?"
Arisu stopped as well. "You know that car or something?"
"Uh, yeah. That's my brother. He wasn't supposed to pick me up today… But, I'm not complaining. See you at Yearbook tomorrow!" Takumi waved and ran to the car, opening the passenger side.
Arisu waited, seeing the car drive off. She didn't think much of it. Otherwise, Takumi wouldn't have gotten in. Instead, she pulled out her phone and got her earphones out. Scrolling to a random song, she pressed play and turned to walk home.
She was going through her messages and found something from her group of friends. Apparently, something had gone on in the group chat.
[? Something going on? - Rosey]
[Rosey~! Did you see Bee's new Link Monster?!
She's so lucky. - Cross Nine]
[What. You jelly? :0 - Pastrybee]
[;_; BEEEEEE! - Cross Nine]
[Enough you two. We have a business to attend to.
You two, we need you to do something tonight.
Mind getting us the cover-up files from five years ago? - Rass]
[Five years ago? Wait, you mean… Shit. Does somebody want it? - Cross Nine]
[We don't know. But apparently, a client just wants some
data on where they hang out. Rass and I would do this
ourselves, but we are… busy with another job tonight. - Rosey]
[Really? Thought Siren or Rampage would have
Told you some shit already. Or do it for us. - Cross Nine]
[They aren't the most reliable at times.
You know that, right? - Pastrybee]
[Hey! Can you get the job done or not? - Rass]
[Sure thing! I'll try and get off my shift today and
Drag Cross Nine out. We got you covered! - Pastrybee]
[Thanks, you guys. - Rosey]
She quickly flipped over to her private chat with Rass. Already there was a message from him directed at her.
[Hey, I got the thing locked and loaded.
Ready to head into the bank tonight? - Rass]
[Yeah. Should work out.
Long as my siblings don't bother me. - Rosey]
[I would like to do some snooping myself in the Data Bank.
Something tells me, we might be able to get some goods.
Thoughts? - Rass]
[Relying on Link Summoning stinks.
Why can't I just use Synchros without issues?
Ugh, SOL Bank going to be worse - Rosey]
[Same here. But if you Summon anything other then Links,
SOL will have no issue locking you up.
At least until the public update. - Rass]
[-_- Don't remind me.
See you tonight. - Rosey]
Upon entering Link VRAINS, Arisu decided to enter as her avatar as Rosey. It was much safer before they entered the Data Bank. Afterward, she would change into Rosebud. A safe bet to prevent the system from recognizing her too quickly. Rass was waiting nearby, dropping off a copy of the program to her and keeping one for himself.
Strange to think something happened on the servers just yesterday. Yet everything seemed as normal. Typical cover-up from the company.
"I edited the program a bit and added a jamming program. So long as we don't interact with anything on our way inside, the system will think of us as another string of code running about." Rass explained to his partner. "Ready to go in?"
"Like I have a choice? After what happened, I got a feeling that whatever SOL is keeping locked up has the answers I need." She lifted the worn-down device, pointing to the light grey cover that was once red.
"Huh? Is that what he was talking about? Didn't seem much except for a color change when I ran through it."
"You didn't see what happened last night. That strange Duel, the Cyberse dragons, the fact I got a Skill when I shouldn't have had one; something isn't adding up here. Besides…" Rosey looked at her left hand. "...I have a feeling Playmaker and I are more aligned that I once thought."
Rass nodded and opened up the portal. "Keep your device on and don't remove the cloak. It has a cooldown."
Rosey nodded and jumped inside. Her avatar changed instantly into Rosebud as the cloaking device activated. Rass followed afterward. Both Duelists entered inside and were quick to notice the floating data triangles all around. Rosebud summoned a diver as did Rass. It slowed their descent.
"These things… they are meant to trigger when they notice hackers like us, correct?" Rosebud inquired as they went deeper down.
"Yes. I don't know if Ghost Girl is going to get inside without issue. But if you're right about Playmaker, would you expect him here?"
"Playmaker…" She thought back to that expression his face. Sharing those strange meetings in real life and then in Link VRAINS. She clenched a fist. "I don't know."
They both went deeper down, farther and farther into the depths of the mother computer. Rass was in the back, having a small map and guiding Rosebud in the front. There were some purple triangles that were deadly. Lucky, it was easy to dodge them. They were approaching the end of Area A. Before they reached the open gap, Rosebud and Rass stopped for a bit.
"That was easier than expected. But the later Areas are going to be more painful." Rosebud stated, looking back to Rass.
"As long as nothing triggers the system, we should be smooth sailing from here," Rass stated before noticing something. "What the-!?"
Rosebud and Rass were taken aback. Both Duelist felt a steady force pulling them toward the open area. Rosebud turned around, eyes widening seeing a Data Storm surging. Rass grabbed her arm and pulled her back, both putting distance between themselves and the Data Storm.
"A Data Storm? So they are using this as security?" Rosebud looked at the steady stream. "This makes things worse."
"That isn't all. Looks like Playmaker is also here." Rass showed the blinker on the map. "And he's in the Data Storm-! What the-!? Blue Angel's here as well."
"Blue Angel!? What is an Idol doing here?"
"I don't know, but we should take this chance to get through. The only thing would be the Data Storm, If those things detect us, no doubt that SOL will want to eliminate us. We have to express extreme caution."
"Indeed."
"SOL got themselves AI Duelists?" Rosebud observed a surge of them in the Data Storm. Unaware due to the cloaking device on both Duelists. "That means somebody must have entered a Duel."
"Yeah, and it looks like they got multiple versions of them." Rass nodded as they sped on, using D-Boards instead of the divers.
The two stopped, eyes widening when they saw a Blue Duelist being rammed into. They knew exactly who that was. It was Blue Angel. The figures ramming into here were some of the AI Duelist. Rosebud groaned at the sight of them.
"Great. Just what we need." Rosebud looked back to Rass. "Mind if I make this easier for us?"
Rass knew exactly what it was, seeing the black energy flickering around her free hand. "Let me get Blue Angel out of the way."
Rosebud charged forward as the AI Duelists continued to bully Blue Angel. Rass went faster, taking the chance. Blue Angel was clearly in distress. Her eyes widen after a knock caught her off-balance.
"Hey, isn't bullying a lady rude? Oh wait, you're AI." Rass unveiled himself, catching Blue Angel before she fell completely off her Duel Disk.
"Huh?" Blue Angel looked back.
"Now Rosebud!"
Rosebud unveiled herself before the AI Duelist, raising her arms as black digital coding manifested from her hands. It formed a large cybernetic-based scythe, glowing blue markings on the silver weapon's blades. Eyes glistening, Rosebud swung and sliced through both of the AI Duelists. The weapon swiftly cut through the coding. In an instant, both AI shattered into data pieces as Rosebud landed back down on her D-Board. Hands still grasping the weapon.
"SOL, to think they'd go that far to murder a girl." Rosebud dispelled the weapon before extending a hand. She assisted the idol back onto her D-Board. "You okay?"
"Wait a second! You're-!" Blue Angel gasped.
"Rosebud yes. And that over there is my partner in crime Rass." She pointed to her friend. "But before we have a full chat, how about we get out of this Data Storm. No doubt SOL will be more than pissed off after I destroyed both their properties without Dueling. They seriously didn't have any protection against destruction programs, did they?"
The group got out of the Data Storm and were swimming toward the Data Bank. Blue Angel following the two and was quick to make conversation. Mainly to Rosebud since Rass was leading them in the darker area.
"So, that weapon you used… it destroys AI?" Blue Angel asked, referring to the scythe.
"Yes. It is only supposed to be for other things, like virus programs and whatnot. Most basic coders won't have anything survive the blade. But it can't hurt a person. Not unless I upgrade it. But I'm no killer." Rosebud explained the weapon, de-summoning the weapon. Nobody should know the truth of that weapon. Of what the monster who once wielded it was. Not now.
"I see… if I may ask, what are you two doing here? I thought… from what I heard, Rosebud would never bring herself into dealing with SOL or Playmaker. Yet here you are."
Rose took a deep breath. "I am here to get answers. Mainly as to why the company targeted me."
"Targeted you?"
"Yes. Rosebud's Duel with Nero was planned out. He wanted to lose and leak that video out. All the while accusing Rosebud of holding SOL Tec property. Something we have deemed impossible since she has no connections to SOL. None of us do." Rass expressed his side. "Honestly, we have no interest in anything that is going on. But if SOL is planning to use Rosebud as bait, we will put an end to it."
"I am not going to become a puppet. Not for SOL or anyone else. All we want is to find out who did it and stop them. Now, may I ask why you are here? An Idol doesn't exactly hit a hacker motif." Rosebud looked to the female idol. She didn't seem to be skilled at hacker, at least from Rosebud could see.
"Playmaker saved my life… but we have a score to settle!" Blue Girl explained. "After he cured me, I needed to repay him in some way. Then, I could Duel him again and prove myself."
"Prove yourself? To who?" Rass' question was met with silence.
"Whoever it is, I can say one thing. Your Duels are quite… enjoyable." Rosebud blushed a bit before the trio noticed the opening to the main Data Bank. "There it is!"
"Keep your voices down. I'm detecting some life in there. And it isn't AI." Rass went forward.
The two girls followed and found themselves hiding by the entrance. Each one looked and were surprised at how open the main Data Bank was. Not only that but the three people in there. Ghost Girl and Playmaker were obvious, but the other man inside. Now that was somebody she never thought to see. Yet he was plastered all over to the news. Akira Zaizen.
Rosebud noticed a shift on Blue Angel's look. Wait a second… Oh. The Plant Duelist didn't need to say anything. She got the idea. They were siblings; she could tell. It was a similar look that Arisu would give to her older siblings. But it was now time to see what was going on. Rosebud opened up a small flower and plucked a petal, letting it flow into the room and hide in a crack. That was, she could hear more clearly. The idol soon noticed it and nodded after Rass motioned to keep her voice low.
[This is SOL Technologies' core.] The AI stated, most likely the Ignis Playmaker had. [Data is processed and released from here.]
"Playmaker," She only assumed it was Akira, as he was the only other male other than Playmaker.
"Akira and Ghost Girl, why are you here?" Now, this was Playmaker's voice; that much was certain. "Were you waiting for me?"
Ghost Girl made a contemplating noise. "That's not quite right. We're also interested in the data here. And this is a hard place to break into."
"I see. I understand now. They used me as a decoy."
A decoy? Was that was Rass and Rosebud were used for. The duo exchanged glances before continuing to listen in.
"Unfortunately, that is incorrect. But if I won that Duel, I would've acquired you. But since I lost, I set up the break-in." Ghost Girl corrected something. "So either result is fine."
[How cunning!]
"It's an honor to be praised by an AI."
[She's so positive.] Yikes, seems like the Ignis got burnt a bit.
"Move out of the way, Akira." Playmaker warned the SOL employee.
"I can't let you go any further." Akira refused.
"So you know what's stored here?" The question befuddled the trio listening in.
"I just learned about it. What happened ten years ago at SOL Technologies. And what happened to you."
The trio looked up and at each other. Each one was shocked at the revelation from Akira's mouth.
"Incident? You two know anything about that?" Blue Angel whispered.
Rosebud and Rass shook their heads. They knew of one. One of recent memory from five years ago. But ten years ago from SOL? Now, that was a new one. Rosebud continued to listen in, all the while making sure to keep it from being noticed.
"I have a right to know what's stored here." That was Playmaker's voice, right? Rosebud had to adjust some of the volumes to fully listen in again.
"You must be a victim of the lost incident ten years ago." Akira's statement sent chills down both Rass and Rosebud's spines.
"Lost incident…" Rosebud uttered under her breath.
"Hey, either of you knows what they are talking about?" Blue Angel looked at the hacker duo.
"Well, not this incident. There was an incident five years ago we are both familiar with. But not anything from ten years ago." Rass responded.
"If you know what happened, hand over the data." Playmaker demanded from Akira.
"I can't." Akira response was instant.
[They looked at the date, but they won't show us? He's so petty.]
"You're the Ignis."
[That's right! I'm the great Ignis that you've been searching for! I lost my memories, so they named me like a dog. But that data contains my name, right?] Rosebud groaned; how could this one be so stupid?
To think that this conflict all started from what she could only assume to be the stupidest AI Ignis thing. Wonderful. Just what she needed. Being very sarcastic here. This was starting to get even weirder. Not even like it was simple before. A lost incident dating back ten years ago connected to both SOL and Playmaker? An Ignis with the mind of an underdeveloped child? How could this have anything to do with her? She had no ties to anything ten years ago. Five years ago, she did have a connection to an incident. One that lacked chains to SOL.
Whatever was going on here?
"Looks like Akira and Playmaker are going to Duel." Rass scoffed. "That means we're stuck here until it blows over."
"What? Can't we just get them to stop?" Blue Angel asked.
"No, we can't. That would put us on the radar of SOL. Besides, my petal has already become a seed that is already digging into the issue." Rosebud mentioned mindlessly as she opened a small screen on the floor.
"Huh?"
"This thing here notified me that cameras were all around. They are being watched by whoever is in security. Rass and I can't afford to be caught in that bank. If anything, they believed we left. You can go in if you want. We will just be hanging out by the entrance. My programs are meant for mods, but that doesn't mean I can use spy rose to copy and extract data."
Rosebud knelt down before taking a seat. She was mainly focusing on copying and extracting any data without causing any alarm. Rass was more focused on listening in on the Duel as Blue Angel watched. Playmaker and Akira had started a Duel. The older male was listening intently on the match. Listening to each decks' playstyles and the combos.
They heard the sob story of Akira. How he took care of his little sister after their parents died. How he had to do terrible things to make her happy. To prevent the hardships of life from crashing down around her. It was starting to strike a chord with Rass a bit. Rosebud knew it. However, the man didn't budge still. Not after they knew who the employer was.
"...If Aoi experience what you did, if a stranger kidnapped her, my spirit would have been broken." Akira's line sunk a very tense feeling into both hackers.
Blue Angel seemed confused, but it was nothing compared to what they were feeling.
Rosebud suddenly had a flashback. Back to the fun time on a bus with a classmate. Back to before those nights and terrible coughing fits. When the tender rose was cut straight off and left to slowly die. She shut her eyes, focusing those memories back.
"No! No…, please… please don't destroy what's left…" Her childhood self screamed.
Rass wasn't faring much better. For before him was a black and white photograph in his mind. It was in his younger hands. Bleak and nearly lifeless. He could still recall the days where the photo used to hold life. When it captured a bright smile. One where hope was in the future. Until it did not. Rass clenched his fists, arms twitching to ready a punch into something.
All he wanted to do was scream.
"At least Aoi had her brother to protect her. It wasn't like Akira was separated and Aoi kidnapped and never saw each other again." Rass barely raised his voice, in fear of Blue Angel overhearing him. "And when they did, one was being carried by four men."
"You know nothing about me!" Playmaker's shout snapped both of them out of it. "Akira, your probably a good person. But you don't know me! You only know a fictional version of me!"
Rosebud, Rass, and Blue Angel were hiding by the door to the SOL Data Bank. Inside, a Duel between SOL employee Akira and Playmaker was underway. Yet the tension of information on both ends was starting to weigh down everyone. Even Ghost Girl was there to watch as the madness went down.
The Duel proceeded, both Playmaker and Akira unyielding to back down. Rosebud was all the while extracting copied data and was well over halfway done. By doing it through her program, she could use this to make a fortune. And get to the bottom of who was using her to bait out Playmaker in the first place.
"...Stop your revenge. Let me handle this and return to your normal life." Akira's voice caught Rosebud's attention again. "That's what's best for you."
Rosebud's left eye twitched. That one line. "That's what's best for you." She recalled all those adults telling her that one line. Back then, she blindly followed their words. Yet now, that triggering line only reminded her of her sickly condition. All because those rotten adults "knew what was best for her." A child they barely knew! One who has ripped away from her family and never saw them again for almost a year! Rosebud did all she could not to just storm right into the open and strangle Akira on the spot.
"Go to school. Talk about the future with your friends. The days of youth are irreplaceable. Spend it with your friends." Akira went on. "You'll cherish these memories in the future. By being obsessed with the past, time is passing by you. Don't let happiness slip away right before your eyes. Just like I did…"
"Right, those memories can only do so much if the present is just as shit as your childhood." Rass hissed out. "As if it was so easy to turn over a new leaf."
"Brother!" Blue Angel rushed out into the open, leaving both hackers still hidden away.
"...She's Aoi Zaizen, isn't she?" Rass asked just voice of Akira confirm it. "Is it wrong for me not to be surprised?"
Rosebud laughed a bit. "At least Cross Nine is going to have a field day hearing that we saved Blue Angel."
"Blue Angel…" Playmaker said.
Blue Angel started walking closer to those in the SOL Data Bank. "Before this Duel ends, I want to hear the end of the story. What happened ten years ago?"
"She came out of hiding." There was an underlying tone, something that both hackers in hiding noticed. Did Ghost Girl expect them to come out as well?
"Playmaker, Link VRAINS has changed drastically since you showed up. I don't know what I duel for anymore." Blue Angel faced the Duelist. "But if I learn what's going on, if I know what you're fighting for, I feel like I can move forward. Tell me, Playmaker. Brother!"
Rass gave Rosebud a look. "You recording this for blackmail?"
"Don't need to say it twice." Rosebud's flower shifted again as if to signify the action.
"I'll tell you what happened," Akira spoke after a long pause between the parties involved. "An incident occurred ten years ago. It's called the 'Lost Incident.' Six children went missing one-by-one. A certain organization kidnapped them."
"Kidnapped!?" Blue Angel gasped.
Rass and Rosebud felt a familiar chill run down their spine. That sounded way too similar to the incident five years ago that scarred them to this day. However, six was such a low number compared to what they had to experience. Especially since Rosebud and Rass knew how public their incident was without a cover-up.
"Yes, and one of the six children is…" Ghost Girl chimed in.
"No way! Was it you, Playmaker?" Blue Angel directed her attention to the Cyberse Duelist.
"Playmaker… is a victim of that crime?" Rass questioned, hand covering his mouth.
"Well, that would explain some things, unlike that Ignis." Rosebud lightly joked before they went back to spying.
"Stop, Akira." Playmaker cut the man off. "I don't want others to tell my past."
"Playmaker…" Blue Angel said.
"After we were kidnapped, we were imprisoned separately. The room contained nothing. Except for VR equipment. The VR showed us a Duel arena. We were forced to Duel there. We could only eat, sleep and Duel. This repeated every day. Everything was based on Dueling. If we don't win a Duel, we don't get to eat. When could we leave? How long could we live? We just kept Dueling, worried because we knew nothing."
"How horrible… Who would do this to children?" Blue Angel broke Playmaker's monologue.
"No one told us where we were or how long we've been held captive." Playmaker finished.
"But half a year later, the incident suddenly ended." Akira took up the story. "You were rescued. But no one knows the culprit. The incident was covered up, so the media didn't raise a fuss."
The two hackers observing from afar were taking in all the information. The "Lost Incident" was it. The one that connected Playmaker everything. And to think, he had a past nearly like her own. To think it was inflicted at him such a young age. At least she had something of a childhood. Right before her innocence was destroyed by a sea of red. She could still recall the days following the incident. It still burnt like the hollow chest she carried every day. Her eyes shut as everything around her faded away.
Arisu awoke to a bright white ceiling. As a child, she had longer hair and was dressed in a hospital gown. The sound of the machines woke her from the slumber of deep below. She wasn't alone in the room. Adults were nearby. Adults with those same eyes and same words.
"You're safe now." "Don't sit up too quickly." "Good morning sweetheart." "Did you have a good dream?"
"It's for your own good."
Arisu's eyes widen as she let out a blood-curdling scream. She was thrashing around as the nurse suddenly panicked. Arisu couldn't recall much. Except for how fearful she was to everyone around her. That, and she felt like her chest was minutes away from caving in completely.
"How was a girl like me supposed to recover?" Rosebud asked, looking back at the memory. "How could I just forget that incident and talk when I was so fearful of everything around me? Wanting to just end my life after what happened!?"
Arisu soon found herself confined to the hospital bed, with a mask over her face attached to another machine. The nurses on standby were talking about her condition. Some were saying about a strange acronym. Whatever that stood for at the time, she didn't understand. Her body was so frail at the time. Her family couldn't even give her physical contact. Less trigger her body to vomit more of the bile.
"It took me years to get back into regular life. And regular is anything but ordinary. I constantly have to take pills, less my body decides to punk out my organs one by one. I can't do any rigorous activities. I can't even use any VR technology for too long! It restricted me to such a boring, dull existence… I would rather die than live this life!"
Rosebud opened her eyes, having taken in all the information including the new information. The Hanoi Project. Neither hacker had to say anything. They knew the Knights of Hanoi were connected. That meant if the Knights knew of her history… Then everything made so much sense. Including why SOL would have to use her as bait. Both sides would want her, yet want to keep her free to lure the other side. How sick and twisted were these adults, toying with another person's life like a tool?
She didn't even to hear that there was a Mastermind behind that incident. She had everything she needed. Rosebud stood up and looked to Rass.
"They wish to use me as bait, for both sides don't want to get their hands dirty. So they choose to dirty the hands of a damaged rose. Trimming the thorns before they pick it right off the bush." Rosebud expressed her thoughts. "And SOL must have planted something to make the Knights think an Ignis is in my Duel Disk."
"Right. That would be the safest option if they want to keep their public image. To think that a company and organization would choose a victim of another incident to torture even more." Rass noticed the fully rose blooming in her hand. "Got everything?"
"Yep. My petal will erase itself soon enough. We don't have any business here anymore, do we?"
"Make sure to give me some of the data to go through. I'd like to see what other shit SOL has hidden behind its basement doors."
Rosebud laughed a bit. "We'll see."
Rosebud and Rass logged off, leaving without a trace. Or so it seemed.
Ghost Girl walked to the field and pulled out a rose petal. Blue Girl, Akira, Playmaker, and Ai noticed it.
"Huh? What's that doing here?" Akira asked.
"Such a shame." The petal vanished into data.
Playmaker recognized the color of the petal. It was the same color as Aromaseraphy Belladonna. He instantly knew who Ghost Girl was inferring to. It was Rosebud. And she had just heard everything.
~ Next Time on ~
~ VRAINS - COMPENDIUM ~
Taking a break from the virtual world, Arisu enjoys an afternoon with Takumi, who offers for them to hang out at Stardust Road to take photos. She enjoys the break and with her camera lens catches someone's attention!? Meanwhile, Siren arrives at her base to find a Knight of Hanoi waiting for her. A Duel begins between both Siren and the Knight of Hanoi. However, is this Duel all that it seems?
Find out in Episode 11 - Eyes in the Sky
Thus the Data Bank Heist has begun, and things are starting to fall into place. Here we get some foreshadowing to both Rass and Rosebud's backstories. We are getting to part two of the bank heist next chapter. Simply because I felt things were getting too long.
And before anyone asks, I'll spoil it now: No, neither Rosebud or Rass are victims of the Lost Incident. I didn't want to fall under that trope, but I do have an event five/six years ago that is parallel to that incident. Besides, there are plenty of stories using the "I'm also apart of the Lost Incident" as a plot point. I wanted to spice up the trope while still kind of using it. At least in concept. Won't say much now, but that incident will become a major plot point later on in this story.
Now a quick thanks are in order to the following for favoriting and/or following: Alpha-san and xXYuseiXAkikoXx! As stated before, if you point out an error in a Duel, I'll do my best to go back and correct it. But from now on, I'll just note them and not directly respond to anyone who points out the errors. It will save me time from typing responses and get back to writing and improving Duels to come. But onto the reviews:
HunterHQ -
The current picture for the story is Rosebud's face - or profile. Whatever you want to call it. I referenced stuff from the anime in case you were wondering.
Now as for whether or not Rosebud will get to have Rose Dragon cards, yes! She will have some of the new Rose Dragon Support added to her Deck (including a few I created.) But I'm glad someone picked up on the fact that Ghost Garden Rose Dragon was Cyberse. I didn't have that a mistake for foreshadowing reasons. Seemed like she got help, didn't she?
Also, Playmaker and Ai weren't really helping out per se, but let's say they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But this will come into play soon enough.
Lindia Fullmoon -
I tried to keep Ghost Garden Rose Dragon true to its name, but honestly, I didn't feel comfortable giving Rosebud Black Rose Dragon and I wanted to make a new Link Monster. But one thing I wanted for sure to do was to keep true to what Black Rose Dragon was. It was kind of like making an upgraded and more modern version of said monster, but with a twist. I'm glad Ghost Garden Rose Dragon has gone over pretty well.
That being said, I wanted to maintain a way to show how powerful the card was, but not be broken like Firewall Dragon. (Like seriously, as much as I love the dragon design, the effect was busted.) I might tweak its effects some more. Though if anyone has any ideas - besides removing its last effect (I already removed it because I felt like that was too broken) - I'd be free to hear them out.
As for the restriction for summoning methods, it is a way I like to joke about why there was only Link Summoning used by the main cast in Season 1. That and it makes writing Duels feel different - at least in how I've separated Link VRAINS on a public and private side. It might become a topic later on, but that's the reason in a nutshell.
Cyberse king -
Thank you so much for those OC cards! I'll be sure to use them and credit you when they make their debut. These seem like really interesting cards; can't wait to use them! (Though I might end up slightly editing the names and effects of some of the cards. Just to fit the theme more. But rest assured I'll be using them in the near future.)
Fun Facts
Original I was planning a Tag Duel between Ghost Girl and Akira against Rosebud and Rass, but decided against it. It didn't make sense, so that is scrapped for the time being. That and story-wise it made no sense. So have a bit of Blue Angel interacting with Rosebud and Rass instead. It was also because of that reason the Data Bank thing was supposed to be split into two parts. However the Solarflare versus Rosebud Duel kind of made me realize that I should just have it as one chapter. So that's how it goes now.
This also meat that Rosebud and Rass would have interactions with the other chapters, but I've decided to not do so. Maybe in the future, I can reuse some of what I wrote before. As of now, they will just be scrapped. Same went for Rass and Rosebud Dueling the AI of SOL. I didn't feel like it would have done any good so I changed it. My reasons for writing Duels is only if I feel it serves the characters and/or plot without dragging down the chapter as a whole.